NYC Letter: We Do Not Despair

Today, Vote

The polls are against the McCain/Palin ticket. The smart money gives the Obama/Biden ticket 10-to-1 odds. The electoral college is predicted to be a blowout.

But we do not believe the polls.

And for once, we do not believe the smart money. While the electoral college numbers are guesses based on the polls that we do not believe.

Perhaps some of this is obstinance in a partisan cause and tomorrow we may look like donkeys. So be it.

This election cycle MSM coverage has been so skewed -- at times vicious, at times petty -- but so blatantly skewed against the McCain/Palin ticket that even the media takes note. Polls about the polls, polls about the MSM consistently show that the viewerships, readerships, and listeners do not find the reporting credible.

If the McCain/Palin ticket were a complete disaster along the lines of the McGovern/Eagleton/Shriver ticket of 1972, well, we would concede the bleak picture the polls and the media present. But it is not:

• John McCain in his own right is an accomplished and well-respected Senator. He is not a divisive political figure and has a reputation as a conciliator.

• The bottom of the Republican ticket outdraws the top of the Democratic ticket at whistlestops and in television ratings.

• The McCain/Palin ticket may be plagued by gossips but it is not freighted with scandals like the Obama/Biden ticket. For that matter the McCain/Palin ticket is not freighted with Joe Biden.

It is curious that so little of this has been reflected in the polls. The McCain/Palin ticket has a natural constituency that simply disappeared from the polls after September.

The Obama/Biden ticket of course is greatly advantaged by the historical moment. There are a great many voters who will vote for a first black president. But having done that, the moment will pass and there will be no gauzy curtain between the ticket and its policies. This will come as a rude surprise to many voters who vote to make history. We are content to vote for responsible governance and leave history to sort itself out.

Going to the polls ourselves, we don't pretend we'd rather have our man 10 points down than 5 up. We wish the McCain/Palin ticket was a sure thing. [Pause.] But we don't believe in sure things.